Amy Marshall

Upon the completion of my PhD on the role of a novel gene skeletal muscle development, I was interested in entering the field of cancer molecular biology and became Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr Gerard Grosveld at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, TN, USA. At St Jude, I investigated the role of the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion gene in the development of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), a skeletal muscle derived pediatric soft tissue sarcoma. In particular, I was interested in the role the genes differentially expressed in response to PAX3-FOXO1 fusion gene expression, play in alveolar rhabdomyosarcomagenesis. Recently I joined the Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Group of Dr John Rasko at the Centenary Institute in Sydney Australia where I have shifted my focus to investigate the role of deregulation certain transcription factors in cancer.

Broadly, I am interested in the molecular mechanisms by which tumors develop and progress. I believe that the key to developing novel therapies for both pediatric and adult cancer is to investigate the unique molecular changes that occur in a particular cancer type. From here further understanding of how these changes contribute to disease development and progression will lead to the possibility of developing more specifically targeted therapies to these diseases.